On 9 January 2019, the government announced that victims of forced marriage who are helped to return to the UK by the Foreign Office will no longer be asked to take out a loan for their repatriation costs. If they cannot afford to pay for their return, the Foreign Office will pay for their travel and subsistence costs and where possible, seek to get the costs back from the perpetrators. You can read about this here.

The government has also said that all current loans with the Forced Marriage Repatriation Unit will also be written off and any passports taken in lieu of an outstanding loan will be returned.

If you are a victim of forced marriage and have taken a loan from the Foreign Office to return to the UK, you can get the loan cancelled.

We can offer you assistance with this. If this is something that you would like to pursue or require any further information or support, please contact us.

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Southall Black Sisters, a not-for-profit, secular and inclusive organisation, was established in 1979 to meet the needs of Black (Asian and African-Caribbean) women. Our aims are to highlight and challenge all forms gender-related violence against women, empower them to gain more control over their lives; live without fear of violence and assert their human rights to justice, equality and freedom.